Image processing apparatus, image playing method, image pick-up apparatus, and program and storage medium for use in displaying image data

ABSTRACT

Upon continuously displaying a plurality of image data read from a recording medium, printing setting information including trimming information is set for the image data recorded to the recording medium with a corresponding relation to the image data. The displaying of the image data is controlled based on the determination of whether or not the printing setting information is set for each image data read from the recording medium.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2003-415698 filed on Dec. 12, 2003, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having arecording function for picking-up an image and recording the image to arecording medium and an automatic playing function for sequentiallyreading the image recorded to the recording medium and automaticallyplaying the image, an image playing method thereof, a program and astorage medium, and an image pick-up apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

As a recording medium having a solid-state memory device such as amemory card, an image processing apparatus, including a digital camera,has been put into the market to record a still image or a moving imageto the recording medium and to play the image. One digital camera havinga digital finder is used, including a color liquid crystal display (LCD)panel.

The above-mentioned digital camera has a function for continuouslydisplaying the image before the image pick-up operation and determiningthe composition by a user and a function for playing and displaying thepicked-up image and confirming the image. In particular, the functionfor playing the picked-up image just after the image pick-up operationis excessively convenient and, further, is advantageous for the user ofthe digital camera.

Further, another digital camera has a function for sending the imagepicked-up by the digital camera by connecting a printer to the digitalcamera without using any personal computer and for directly printing theimage.

In addition, a slide show playing function is known to continuouslyplay, automatically or manually, a plurality of still images that arepicked-up by the digital camera and are recorded to the recordingmedium. Here, the slide show playing function enables the image to beread in accordance with the playing sequence that is preset or with thescreen effect in the image display operation.

In addition, image playing apparatuses that trim-display an image areknown.

However, it is complicated for the user to perform editing so as to setthe playing sequence or screen effect by using a liquid crystal displaypanel or by using operating button(s) incorporated in the digitalcamera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is made in consideration of the above-mentionedproblems by providing an image processing apparatus, an image displayingmethod, and a program and a storage medium, in which the automaticdisplaying operation is effectively performed without a complicatedsetting operation.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided animage processing apparatus for continuously displaying a plurality ofread image data from a recording medium. The image processing apparatusincludes: a trimming information setting unit that sets trimminginformation for cutting out a part of the image data recorded to therecording medium; and a display control unit that controls displaying ofthe image data upon displaying the plurality of image data recorded tothe recording medium based on whether trimming information is set foreach image data read from the recording medium.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an image displayingmethod, and a program and a storage medium corresponding to theabove-mentioned image processing apparatus are disclosed.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an image pick-up apparatus for recording, to a recordingmedium, image data obtained by picking-up an image of a subject and forcontinuously displaying a plurality of image data read from a recordingmedium. The image pick-up apparatus includes: a trimming informationsetting unit that sets trimming information for cutting out a part ofthe image data recorded to the recording medium; and a display controlunit that controls displaying of the image data upon displaying theplurality of image data recorded to the recording medium based onwhether the trimming information is set for each image data read fromthe recording medium.

Still further, according to another aspect of the present invention,there is provided an image processing apparatus for continuouslydisplaying a plurality of read image data from a recording medium. Theimage processing apparatus includes: a printing-setting-informationsetting unit that sets printing setting information for printing theimage data recorded to the recording medium with a correspondingrelation to the image data; and a display control unit that controlsdisplaying of the image data upon displaying the plurality of image datarecorded to the recording medium based on the whether the printingsetting information is set for each image data read from the recordingmedium.

According to the present invention, the trimming information for cuttingout a part of the image recorded to the recording medium is set with acorresponding relation to the recorded image. Upon displaying the imagerecorded to the recording medium by the auto-play function, the displayoperation of the image is controlled in accordance with thedetermination whether or not the trimming information is set for eachimage read from the recording medium. As a consequence, the auto-playoperation is advantageous without a complicated setting operation.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the embodiments withreference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image processingapparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the auto-play sequence using trimminginformation in an image processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one example of a setting screen for settingwhether or not the auto-play operation is performed by using thetrimming information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the display operation of anintra-trimming frame by using the trimming information in the auto-playoperation shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the auto-play sequence using the trimminginformation in an image processing apparatus according to the secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for settingwhether or not the auto-play operation is performed by using thetrimming information shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the display operation in atrimming frame by using the trimming information in the auto-playoperation shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the auto-play operation using the trimminginformation in an image processing apparatus according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing examples of an image additionallyhaving the trimming information in the auto-play operation shown in FIG.8 and the played image thereof.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the image played based onprinting setting information including the trimming information.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference tothe drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image processingapparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus 100 includes: animage pick-up lens 10; a shutter 12 having a stop function; an imagepick-up device 14 that converts an optical image into an electricsignal; an A/D (analog-to-digital) converter 16 that converts an analogsignal output from the image pick-up device 14 into a digital signal; aD/A (digital-to-analog) converter 26; and an image processing circuit20. A timing generating circuit 18 supplies a clock signal and a timingsignal to the image pick-up device 14, the A/D converter 16, and the D/Aconverter 26. The operation of the timing generating circuit 18 iscontrolled by a memory control circuit 22 and a system control circuit50.

The image processing circuit 20 performs predetermined pixelinterpolation and color conversion of data from the A/D converter 16 anddata from the memory control circuit 22. The image processing circuit 20performs predetermined calculation by using image data that ispicked-up. Based on the result obtained by the calculation, the systemcontrol circuit 50 controls TTL (through the lens)-system AF(auto-focus) processing, AE (auto exposure) processing, and flash bypre-emission processing which control an exposure control unit 40 anddistance measurement control unit 42. Further, the image processingcircuit 20 performs predetermined calculation by using the picked-upimage data, and further performs TTL-system AWB (auto-white balance)processing based on the obtained calculating result.

The memory control circuit 22 controls the A/D converter 16, the timinggenerating circuit 18, the image processing circuit 20, an image displaymemory 24, the D/A converter 26, a memory 30, and acompressing/decompressing circuit 32. The data from the A/D converter 16is written to the image display memory 24 or memory 30 via the imageprocessing circuit 20 and the memory control circuit 22, or directly viathe memory control circuit 22.

The image data for display operation written to the image display memory24 is displayed on an image display portion 28 via the D/A converter 26.The image display portion 28 includes a TFT (thin film transistor) typeliquid crystal display device, and realizes the digital finder functionby sequentially displaying the image data picked-up by using the imagedisplay portion 28. Further, the image display portion 28 can beswitched on/off in accordance with an instruction from the systemcontrol circuit 50. Upon switching off the display operation, the powerconsumption of the image processing apparatus 100 is excessivelyreduced.

The memory 30 is a memory for storing a still image or a moving imagethat is picked-up, and has a sufficient storage capacity for storing apredetermined number of still images or a moving image for apredetermined time. Thus, in the panorama photographing or thecontinuous pick-up operation for continuously picking-up a plurality ofstill images, an image with the large volume can be written to thememory 30 at the high speed. Further, the memory 30 provides a workingarea of the system control circuit 50.

The compressing/decompressing circuit 32 compresses or decompresses theimage data by ADCT (adaptive discrete cosine transform). The data afterthe compression or decompression is written to the memory 30.

The shutter 12 is controlled by the exposure control unit 40. Theexposure control unit 40 has a flash light adjusting function inassociation with a flash 48. The flash 48 has a light projectingfunction of the AF auxiliary light and a flash light adjusting function.The focusing of the image pick-up lens 10 is controlled by the distancemeasurement control unit 42. The zooming operation of the image pick-uplens 10 is controlled by a zooming control unit 44. The image pick-uplens 10 is protected by a protecting unit 102 as a barrier and theoperation of the protecting unit 102 is controlled by a barrier controlunit 46.

The exposure control unit 40 and the distance measurement control unit42 are controlled by the TTL system. The system control circuit 50controls the exposure control unit 40 and the distance measurementcontrol unit 42 based on the calculating result of the image datapicked-up by the image processing circuit 20. The system control circuit50 controls the image processing apparatus 100 based on the constant,variable, and program for operation which are stored in a memory 52.

A display portion 54 displays an operating state or message by using acharacter, image, or sound in accordance with the execution of theprogram using the system control circuit 50. The display portion 54includes a liquid crystal display device and a speaker, which arearranged to one or a plurality of positions for easily viewing theoperating portion of the image processing apparatus 100, and arestructured by combining an LCD, LED (light emitting diode), and sounddevice. A part of functions of the display portion 54 are arranged to anoptical finder 104. Among the display contents of the display portion54, the display data on the LCD includes single shot/continuousphotographing indication, shutter speed indication, stop valueindication, exposure correction indication, flash indication, red-eyepreventing indication, macro photographing indication, buzzer settingindication, counting battery remaining indication, battery remainingindication, error indication, information indication using a pluralityof digits of numbers, detaching state indication of the recording media200 and 210, communication I/F operating indication, date and timeindication, and the like. Among the display contents of the displayportion 54, the display data of the optical finder 104 includes thedisplay operation of focusing, of camera-shake alarming, of flashcharge, of shutter speed, of stop value, and of exposure correction.

Connected to the system control circuit 50 are a non-volatile memory 56,a plurality of operating means for inputting various operatinginstructions of the system control circuit 50, power control unit 80,recording medium detachment detecting unit 98, and communication unit110.

A plurality of operating means is structured by one or a plurality of aswitch, dial, touch panel, pointing device for visual detection, and asound recognizing device. For example, the plurality of operating meansshown in FIG. 1 include a mode dial switch 60, a shutter switch (SW1)62, a shutter switch (SW2) 64, an image display ON/OFF switch 66, aquick review ON/OFF switch 68, and an operating portion 70.

The mode dial switch 60 sets the switching operation of functional modesincluding power off, auto-photographing mode, photographing mode,panorama photographing mode, play mode, multi-screen play/erase mode,and PC connecting mode. The shutter switch (SW1) 62 is switched onduring operating a shutter button (not shown), which causes instructingthe AF (auto-focusing) processing, AE (auto-exposing) processing, AWB(auto-white balancing) processing, and processing of flash bypre-emission. The shutter switch (SW2) 64 is switched on upon ending theoperation of the shutter button, which causes instructing the start of aseries of operations including the exposing processing for convertingthe signal read from the image pick-up device 14 by the image processingcircuit 20, writing the image data to the memory 30 via the memorycontrol circuit 22, developing processing using the calculation by theimage processing circuit 20 and the memory control circuit 22, andrecording processing for reading the image data from the memory 30,compressing the data by the compressing/decompressing circuit 32, andwriting the image data to the recording medium 200 or 210.

The image display ON/OFF switch 66 sets the on/off operation of theimage display portion 28. In the photographing operation using theoptical finder 104, the power supply to the image display portion 28 isshut off by the image display ON/OFF switch 66, which saves the powerconsumption. The quick review ON/OFF switch 68 sets a quick reviewfunction for automatically playing the image data that is photographedjust after the photographing operation. According to the firstembodiment, the quick review ON/OFF switch 68 includes a function forsetting the quick review function when the image display portion 28 isswitched off.

The operating portion 70 includes a touch panel and various buttonsincluding a menu button, setting button, macro button, multi-screen playnext page button, flash setting button, one-shot/continuousphotographing/self-timer switching button, menu moving plus (+) button,menu moving minus (−) button, play image moving plus (+) button, playimage moving minus (−) button, photographing image quality selectingbutton, exposure correcting button, and date/time setting button.

Power control unit 80 includes a battery detecting circuit, DC-DCconverter, and a switch circuit for switching an energized block,detecting the presence or absence of battery attachment, type ofbattery, and battery remaining, controlling the DC-DC converter inaccordance with an instruction of the system control circuit 50 and thedetecting result, and applying a necessary voltage to blocks includingthe recording medium for a necessary period. The power is supplied froma power supply 86 to the power control unit 80 via connectors 82 and 84.The power supply 86 includes a primary battery, such as an alkalinebattery or lithium battery, a secondary battery, such as a NiCd (NickelCadmium) battery, NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery, and Li (Lithium)battery, or an AC (Alternating Current) adapter.

The recording medium detachment detecting unit 98 detects whether or notthe recording medium 200 or 210 is attached corresponding to connector92 or 96. The connectors 92 and 96 are connected to interfaces (I/Fs) 90and 94. The recording media 200 and 210 are recording media, such as amemory card or hard disk, and include recording portions 202 and 212,I/Fs 204 and 214, and connectors 206 and 216. The connector 206 isconnected to the connector 92 and the connector 216 is connected to theconnector 96.

According to the first embodiment, two interfaces and two connectors forattaching the recording media are provided. However, the number ofinterfaces or connectors is not limited to two and can be arbitrary. Theinterfaces and connectors may have the same standard or differentstandards. Further, the interfaces and connectors may be in theconformity of the standard of a PCMCIA card (Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association (also called PC Cards)) or CF (CompactFlash®) card. Further, when the interfaces 90 and 94 and the connectors92 and 96 use the standard in conformity of the PCMCIA card or CF card,the image data and management information in addition to the image dataare transferred to another computer or peripheral device, such as aprinter, by connecting communication cards such as a LAN (Local AreaNetwork) card, modem card, USB (Universal Serial Bus) card, IEEE1394card, P1284 card, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) card, and PHScommunication card.

The communication unit 110 has communication functions such as RS232C,USB, IEEE1394, P1284, SCSI, modem, LAN, and radio communication. Thecommunication unit 110 has a connector 112 for connecting the imageprocessing apparatus 100 to another device, such as a printer. In thecase of radio communication, an antenna is provided in place of theconnector 112.

A printer is connected to the image processing apparatus 100 accordingto the first embodiment. The image processing apparatus 100 includes afunction for sending and directly printing the image picked-up by theimage processing apparatus 100 together with the trimming information,enlargement/reduction printing information and printing settinginformation, such as the number of printing sheets. In order toaccomplish the function, the printer connected to the image processingapparatus 100 includes a function for receiving the image picked-up bythe image processing apparatus 100 and printing the received image. Thefunctions of the image processing apparatus 100 include a function forsetting the trimming information for cutting out a part of the printingimage and printing it. The trimming information for cutting out a partof the display image is set by operating the key arranged to theoperating portion 70 while displaying the corresponding image on theimage display portion 28. The trimming information is set and then theset trimming information is stored in the recording medium 200 or 210with a corresponding relation to the image. Specifically, the trimminginformation is written to a header portion of the image data. If thetrimming information is linked to the image in the play operation, thetrimming information may be recorded to another file of the image datawith a corresponding relation.

The image processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment hasa slide show (hereinafter, referred to an auto-play function) forreading a plurality of images recorded to the recording medium 200 or210 and continuously playing the images automatically or manually. Uponplaying the image recorded to the recording medium 200 or 210 by theslide show play function, the image display operation is controlleddepending on the determination of whether or not the trimminginformation is set to each image read from the recording medium 200 or210.

Next, a description is given of the auto-play operation using thetrimming information according to the first embodiment with reference toFIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the sequence for auto-playoperation using the trimming information in the image processingapparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example ofa setting screen for determining whether or not the auto-play operationis performed by using the trimming information. FIG. 4 is a diagramshowing an example of the display operation of an intra-trimming frameusing the trimming information in the auto-play operation shown in FIG.2. The sequence shown in FIG. 2 is executed based on the program storedin the memory 52 by the system control circuit 50.

Setting whether or not the auto-play operation is performed by using thetrimming information on a setting screen 301 is shown in FIG. 3. Thesetting screen 301 displays a setting item (display the intra-trimmingframe) 302 for setting whether or not the auto-play operation isperformed by using the trimming information. An ON button 303 is usedfor setting the auto-play operation using the trimming information, andan OFF button 304 is used for resetting the auto-play operation. Theuser sets whether or not the auto-play operation is performed by usingthe trimming information on the setting screen 301.

A description is given of the play operation upon setting the auto-playoperation using the trimming information on the setting screen 301. FIG.2 illustrates the auto-play operation using the trimming information. Instep S201, the system control circuit 50 sets the image as theprocessing target to the first one, namely, a file No. n to 1. In stepS202, the system control circuit 50 displays the image of file No. n.Then, in step S203, the system control circuit 50 determines whether ornot the trimming information is set to the image as the processingtarget. When the trimming information is set, in step S204, the systemcontrol circuit 50 enlarges and displays the image in an area prescribedby the trimming information set to the image as the current processingtarget, namely, the image in the trimming frame and then advances theprocessing to step S205. On the other hand, when the trimminginformation is not set, the system control circuit 50 skips step S204and advances the processing to step S205.

In step S205, the system control circuit 50 determines whether or notthe processing ends for all of the images. If it is determined thatprocessing has ended for all of the images (yes in step S205), thesystem control circuit 50 ends the processing. However, if it isdetermined that processing has not ended for all of the images (no instep S205), in step S206, the system control circuit 50 increments thefile No. n by one to automatically display the image of the next fileNo. n. The processing returns to step S202 and the system controlcircuit 50 displays the image of the file No. n. Incidentally, in thecontinuous play operation by the manual operation, the user presses thekey disposed on the image operating portion 70 which increments the fileNo. n and displays the next image.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the auto-play operation, the entire image 401 ofthe corresponding file No. n is displayed in step S202. When thetrimming information exists in the image 401 in step S203, the image inthe area prescribed by the trimming information, namely, the image inthe trimming frame is enlarged and is displayed as an image 402 in stepS204.

According to the first embodiment, in the auto-play operation, for theimage to which the trimming information is set, the image in the areaprescribed by the trimming information, namely, the image in thetrimming frame is enlarged and is displayed. Therefore, the auto-playoperation is effective without the complicated setting operation.

According to the first embodiment, when the trimming information is set,the image in the area prescribed by the trimming information is enlargedand is displayed. According to another display method, for the image towhich the trimming information is set, the display operation may havethree steps. That is, first, the image before the trimming operation isplayed, only the image in the area continuously prescribed by thetrimming information is then displayed, and the image in the area isenlarged and is displayed. Thus, it is easily understand which area ofthe original image is trimmed.

The image processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment hasthe system structure in which the printer is connected via thecommunication unit 110, and the image is sent to the printer togetherwith the printing setting information such as the trimming informationand can directly be printed without a personal computer. Further, theimage processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment mayhave another system structure in which a digital camera is connected tothe printer via the personal computer, the printing setting informationsuch as the trimming information is set on application softwareoperating on the personal computer, and the auto-play operation andauto-display operation can be performed by using the trimminginformation on an external monitor connected to the personal computer.

Second Embodiment

Next, a description is given of the second embodiment of the presentinvention with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showingthe sequence of the auto-play operation using the trimming informationin an image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of asetting screen for setting whether or not the auto-play operation isperformed by using the trimming information shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is adiagram showing an example of the display operation of an intra-trimmingframe by using the trimming information in the auto-play operation shownin FIG. 5. Here, the structure according to the second embodiment is thesame as that according to the first embodiment and a description thereofis not repeated here. The sequence shown in FIG. 5 is executed by thesystem control circuit 50.

According to the second embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, it isset whether or not the set trimming frame is displayed and whether ornot the display operation of animation is performed in the enlargeddisplay operation of the image in the trimming frame.

According to the second embodiment, a setting screen 601 shown in FIG. 6is used for setting whether or not the auto-play operation is performedby using the trimming information. The setting screen 601 displays asetting item (display the intra-trimming frame) 602 for setting whetheror not the auto-play operation is performed by using the trimminginformation, a setting item (display the on-trimming frame) 605 forsetting the trimming frame is displayed, and a setting item (displayenlarged animation) 606 for setting whether or not the animation isdisplayed in the enlarged display operation of the image in the trimmingframe. Here, an ON button 603 is selected for setting the auto-playoperation using the trimming information and an OFF button 604 isselected for resetting the auto-play operation. When the auto-playoperation is set by using the trimming information, the setting items605 and 606 are set. When the auto-play operation is reset by using thetrimming information, the setting items 605 and 606 are not set.

When the auto-play operation is performed by using the trimminginformation, referring to FIG. 5, in step S501, the system controlcircuit 50 sets the image as the processing target to the first one,namely, file No. n to 1. In step S502, the system control circuit 50displays the image of a file No. n. In step S503, the system controlcircuit 50 determines whether or not the trimming information is set tothe image as the processing target. When the trimming information isset, in step S504, the system control circuit 50 determines whether ornot the frame display setting for displaying the trimming frame is on.If it is determined that frame display setting for displaying thetrimming frame is on (yes in step S504), in step S505, the systemcontrol circuit 50 overlays and displays the trimming frame on thedisplayed original image. Then, the processing advances to step S506. Onthe other hand, if frame display setting for displaying the trimmingframe is not on, i.e., is off (no in step S504), the system controlcircuit 50 skips step S505 and advances the processing to step S506.

In step S506, the system control circuit 50 determines whether or notthe enlarged animation setting is on for displaying the animation in theenlarging and display operation of the image in the trimming frame. Ifenlarged animation setting is on (yes in step S506), in step S507, thesystem control circuit 50 displays the animation of an interpolatedimage for enlarging and displaying the image in the trimming frame.Then, the processing advances to step S509. If enlarged animationsetting is not on, i.e., is off (no in step S506), the system controlcircuit 50 skips step S507 and then advances the processing to stepS509.

In step S509, the system control circuit 50 enlarges and displays theimage in the trimming frame. Then, in step S510, the system controlcircuit 50 determines whether or not the processing ends for all of theimages. If processing ends for all of the images (yes in step S510), thesystem control circuit 50 ends the processing. If processing does notend for all of the images (no in step S510), in step S511, the systemcontrol circuit 50 increments the file No. n by one so as to display theimage of the next file No. n. Processing then returns to step S502 andthe system control circuit 50 displays the image of the file No. n.

If it is determined in step S503 that the trimming information is notset, in step S510, the system control circuit 50 determines whether ornot the processing ends for all of the images. If it is determined thatprocessing ends for all of the images (yes in step S510), the systemcontrol circuit 50 ends the processing. If it is determined thatprocessing does not end for all of the images (no in step S510), in stepS511, the system control circuit 50 increments the file No. n by one soas to display the image of the next file No. n. Processing then returnsto step S502 and the system control circuit 50 displays the image of thefile No. n.

In the auto-play operation, the entire image 701 (of FIG. 7) of thecorresponding file No. n is displayed in step S502. In steps S503 andS504, the trimming information exists in the image 701 and the framedisplay setting for displaying the trimming frame is ON, a trimmingframe 702 indicating the area prescribed by the trimming information isoverlaid to the image 701 and is and displayed in step S505. The settingof the enlarged animation is ON in step S506, the interpolated imageupon enlarging and displaying the image in the trimming frame isdisplayed as an animation image 703 in step S507. Then, the image in thetrimming frame is enlarged and is displayed as an image 704 in stepS509.

The display operation of animation shown in FIG. 7 is one example andthe present invention is not limited to this. Further, in place of thedisplay operation of animation, with another specific effect, theprocess for enlarging and displaying the image in the trimming frame maybe displayed.

Third Embodiment

Next, a description is given of the third embodiment of the presentinvention with reference to FIGS. 8 to 9B. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showingthe sequence of the auto-play operation using the trimming informationin an image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment ofthe present invention. FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing an exampleof the image additionally having the trimming information as theauto-play operation and a played image thereof. The structure accordingto the third embodiment is the same as that according to the firstembodiment and a description thereof is not repeated here. The sequenceshown in FIG. 8 is executed by the system control circuit 50.

According to the third embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, only theimage additionally having the trimming information is displayed. Thatis, the image additionally having no trimming information is notdisplayed and only the image additionally having the trimminginformation is displayed. For the image additionally having the trimminginformation, the image in the trimming frame is enlarged and isdisplayed.

According to another display method, for the image additionally havingthe trimming information, the display operation may have three steps.That is, first, the image before the trimming operation is displayedtogether with the trimming frame. Then, only the image in the areacontinuously prescribed by the trimming information is displayed or theimage in the area is enlarged and displayed. Thus, it is easilyunderstood which area of the original image is trimmed.

In the auto-play operation using the trimming information, in step S801of FIG. 8, the system control circuit 50 sets the image as theprocessing target to the first one, namely, the file NO. n to one. Instep S802, the system control circuit 50 determines whether or not thetrimming information is set to the image as the processing target. Whenthe trimming information is set (yes in step S802), in step S803, thesystem control circuit 50 enlarges and displays the image in the areaprescribed by the trimming information set to the image as the currentprocessing target, namely, in the trimming. Then, the system controlcircuit 50 advances the processing to step S804. When the trimminginformation is not set (no in step S802), the system control circuit 50skips step S803 and advances the processing to step S804.

In step S804, the system control circuit 50 determines whether or notthe processing ends for all of the images. If processing ends for all ofthe images (yes in step S804), the system control circuit 50 ends theprocessing for all of the images. If processing does not end for all ofthe images (no in step S804), in step S805, the system control circuit50 increments the file No. n by one so as to display the image of thenext file No. n. Then, the system control circuit 50 repeats theprocessing from step S802.

In the auto-play operation, referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the image isdisplayed as follows. That is, when trimming information 902 (refer toFIG. 9A) exists in an image 901 of the corresponding file No. n in stepS802 the image in the area prescribed by the trimming information isenlarged and is displayed as an image 905 (refer to FIG. 9B) in stepS803. Then, the processing shifts for an image 903 of the next file No.n. If trimming information 904 (refer to FIG. 9A) exists in the image903 in step S802, the image in the area prescribed by the trimminginformation, that is, the image in the trimming frame is enlarged and isdisplayed as an image 906 (refer to FIG. 9B) in step S803.

Other Embodiments

According to the present invention, the trimming information is used forthe auto-play operation in the printing operation of the printingdevice. Further, according to the present invention, reducing-ratioinformation for reducing and printing the entire image and combinedimage information such as a panorama may be used for the auto-playoperation.

In addition to the trimming information, the printing information set onthe image processing apparatus 100 as the digital camera includes thenumber of printing sheets, a simple inserted message, and photographingdata information printed together with the image. The printinginformation is transferred to the printer together with the image data.Referring to FIG. 10, it is possible to superimpose the printinginformation to information necessary for printing, such as the number ofprinting sheets 1002, photographing date 1003, and a simple insertedmessage 1004, together with image data 1001 played based on the trimminginformation on the monitor of the personal computer (PC) connected tothe image display portion 28 or digital camera and to display theinformation.

A storage medium (recording medium) records program code of software forrealizing the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 8 so as to realize thefunctions of the embodiments, and includes a flexible disk, a hard disk,a ROM (read-only memory), a RAM (random-access memory), a magnetic tape,a non-volatile memory card, a CD-ROM (compact disk—read-only memory), aCD-R (compact disk—recordable), a DVD (digital versatile disk), anoptical disk, an magneto-optical disk, and the like. The presentinvention is accomplished by supplying the storage medium (recordingmedium) to a system or an apparatus and by reading and executing theprogram mode stored therein by a computer (CPU (central processing unit)or MPU (micro-processing unit)) in the system or apparatus. A computernetwork such as LAN (local area network) or WAN (wide area network) isused for supplying the program code. In this case, the program codesupplied from the storage medium or computer network realizes theembodiments, and the present invention can be applied to the storagemedium for storing the program code. The functions of the presentinvention are realized by executing the program code read by thecomputer. Further, the functions of the embodiments are realized byexecuting the entire or a part of the actual processing by an operatingsystem (OS) operating on the computer based on an instruction of theprogram code.

Further, the program code read from the storage medium can be written toa memory of a function expansion card inserted in the computer or afunction expansion unit connected to the computer, then, a CPU of thefunction expansion card or function expansion unit executes the entireor a part of the actual processing based on the instruction of theprogram code, and the processing realizes the functions of theembodiments. The present invention can be applied to the structure inwhich a digital camera is physically or electrically connected to thepersonal computer (PC) by wiring or wireless manner and a picked-upimage is displayed on a monitor of the personal computer while thedigital camera is remotely operated by the PC.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, the invention isintended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangementsincluded within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The scopeof the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation soas to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

1. An image processing apparatus having a recording function to capture an image and record the image on a recording medium and an automatic playback function to read the image recorded on the recording medium and play back automatically, the image processing apparatus comprising: a trimming information setting unit configured to set, on the image recorded on the recording medium, trimming information for cutting out a part of the image data as a trimming area, such that the image and the trimming information are associated with each other; a determining unit configured to determine whether the trimming information is set on an image to be displayed by the automatic playback function; a display control unit configured to control display of the image recorded on the recording medium in an image display area by using the automatic playback function, wherein, if the determining unit determines that the trimming information is not set on the image, the display control unit displays in the image display area the image without an animation, and if the determining unit determines that the trimming information is set on the image, the display control unit displays in the image display area a frame indicating the trimming area on the image displayed, and then an animation where the trimming area is gradually enlarged, and finally the enlarged trimming area; and an animation display setting unit configured to set whether or not an animation is displayed by the display control unit, wherein, in a case where the animation display setting unit sets not to display an animation, when displaying an image on which trimming information is set, the display control unit does not perform the animation and displays the image in the image display area.
 2. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls displaying of the image data so that the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information is displayed from the image data to which the trimming information is set.
 3. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls displaying of the image data so that the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information is enlarged and is displayed from the image data to which the trimming information is set.
 4. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls displaying of the image data so that the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information is enlarged and is displayed from the image data to which the trimming information is set after displaying all of the image data.
 5. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls displaying of the image data so that all of the image data to which trimming information is set is overlaid to a frame indicating an area of the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information and is displayed and, thereafter, only the image data cut out based on the trimming information is enlarged and is displayed.
 6. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls the display so that only the image data to which the trimming information is set is displayed.
 7. An image displaying method including recording a captured image on a recording medium, reading the image and automatically playing back the image, the image displaying method comprising: setting, on the image recorded on the recording medium, trimming information for cutting out a part of the image data as a trimming area, such that the image and the trimming information are associated with each other; determining whether the trimming information is set on an image to be displayed during the automatically playing back of the image; controlling display of the image recorded on the recording medium in an image display area during the automatically playing back of the image, wherein, if it is determined in the determining that the trimming information is not set on the image, the controlling comprises displaying in the image display area the image without an animation, and if it is determined in the determining that the trimming information is set on the image, the controlling comprises displaying in the image display area a frame indicating the trimming area on the image displayed, and then an animation where the trimming area is gradually enlarged, and finally the enlarged trimming area; and setting whether or not an animation is displayed in the controlling, wherein, in a case where the setting whether or not the animation is displayed sets not to display an animation, when displaying an image on which trimming information is set, the controlling comprises not performing the animation and displaying the image in the image display area.
 8. An image displaying method according to claim 7, wherein displaying of the image data comprises controlling displaying of the image data so that the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information is displayed from the image data to which the trimming information is set.
 9. An image displaying method according to claim 7, wherein controlling displaying of the image data comprises controlling displaying of the image data so that the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information is enlarged and is displayed from the image data to which the trimming information is set.
 10. An image displaying method according to claim 7, wherein controlling displaying of the image data comprises controlling displaying of the image data so that the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information is enlarged and is displayed from the image data to which the trimming information is set after displaying all of the image data.
 11. An image displaying method according to claim 7, wherein controlling displaying of the image data comprises controlling displaying of the image data so that all of the image data to which trimming information is set is overlaid to a frame indicating an area of the part of the image data cut out based on the trimming information and is displayed and, thereafter, only the image data cut out based on the trimming information is enlarged and is displayed.
 12. An image displaying method according to claim 7, wherein controlling displaying of the image data comprises controlling displaying of the image data so that only the image data to which the trimming information is set is displayed.
 13. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer-readable program for controlling an image processing apparatus according to the image displaying method of claim
 7. 14. An image processing apparatus having a recording function to capture an image and record the image on a recording medium and an automatic playback function to read the image recorded on the recording medium and play back automatically, the image processing apparatus comprising: a printing-setting-information setting unit configured to set printing setting information for printing the image data recorded to the recording medium with a corresponding relation to the image data, wherein the printing setting information includes trimming information for cutting out a part of the image data as a trimming area, such that the image and the trimming information are associated with each other; a determining unit configured to determine whether the trimming information is set on an image to be displayed by the automatic playback function; a display control unit configured to control display of the image recorded on the recording medium in an image display area by using the automatic playback function, wherein, if the determining unit determines that the trimming information is not set on the image, the display control unit displays in the image display area the image without an animation, and if the determining unit determines that the trimming information is set on the image, the display control unit displays in the image display area a frame indicating the trimming area on the image displayed, and then an animation where the trimming area is gradually enlarged, and finally the enlarged trimming area; and an animation display setting unit configured to set whether or not an animation is displayed by the display control unit, wherein, in a case where the animation display setting unit sets not to display an animation, when displaying an image on which trimming information is set, the display control unit does not perform the animation and displays the image in the image display area.
 15. An image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the printing setting information includes at least one of a number of printing sheets and date information. 